Could Akron's $1.4 Billion Sewer Predicament Actually Save the City?

By John Harper, Northeast Ohio Media Group

AKRON, Ohio -- For the next 15 years, Akron will be forced to pay for $1.4 billion in sewer improvements, required by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to stop overflows into local rivers.

That predicament -- the city claimed in a legal filing last December that recent 69 percent sewer rate hikes won't be enough to pay for the project -- could bring to a halt long-running investments to revive downtown.

Or, says one of the nation's top urban planning experts, it could be the city's savior.